Cai Shangjun

Birth : 1967-01-01, Beijing, China

History

Cai Shangjun was born in Beijing and graduated from the Literature Department of the Central Academy of Drama in 1992. Afterwards he focused on writing screenplays for such films as SPICY LOVE SOUP (1997) and SHOWER (1999). In 2006, he made his directorial debut with THE RED AWN, which received the Golden Alexander Award for Best Film at the 48th Thessaloniki International Film Festival, as well as the FIPRESCI Award at the 2007 Busan International Film Festival. In 2011, his sophomore feature PEOPLE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE SEA premiered as the "surprise film" at the 68th Venice International Film Festival, the fourth Chinese-language film to play there under such billing; in a subsequent upset, the film won the festival's Silver Lion for Best Direction.

Movies

The Conformist

Director

Wang Hai Bo, a lineman living in a small town on the Sino-Russian border, has been immersed in the bottom of society for many years, relying on selling intelligence for a living. By chance, Wang Hai Bo got a gun, giving him the idea of robbing the casino. However, this plan fails. The policeman Kui Zi, Wang's old friend, tells him that Lao Qiao is looking for people to go to Russia to buy wood. Wang Hai Bo, afraid of being implicated in the murder case, could only escape to the Russian Far East town. Two equally troubled people entangle each other in the snow and ice during the trip.

People Mountain People Sea

Director

A story of vengeance set in China’s wild Southwest, where brutality can be the norm rather than the exception.

The Red Awn

Director

A father and son meet after five years of the father's absence and they go on a trip to rebuild their relationship.

Sunflower

Writer

Sunflower is the story of the Zhang family in Beijing father, mother and son across three decades, centering on the tensions and misunderstandings between father and son. Nine-year-old Xiangyang is having the time of his life, free of adult supervision until the day he meets the father he can hardly remember. Having spent years away, he returns with strong ideas about his son learning to draw. But Xiangyang chafes under his father's constant rules and soon stages his own revolution against the lessons enforced.

Shower

Screenplay

An aged father and his younger, mentally challenged son have been working hard every day to keep the bathhouse running for a motley group of regular customers. When his elder son, who left years ago to seek his fortune in the southern city of Shenzhen, abruptly returns one day, it once again puts under stress the long-broken father-son ties. Presented as a light-hearted comedy, Shower explores the value of family, friendship, and tradition.

Spicy Love Soup

Writer

Six different episodes about different generations' relationships. Love can be sweet, sour, or spicy.